us to do so. All we
have is His--not our own. To each of us shall be addressed the words,
"Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer
steward." If we remember this great truth we shall be rightly guided,
both in regard to the accumulation and the distribution of money. We
shall not inordinately desire it, for we shall feel that with its
increase comes new responsibility; and we shall be careful how we spend
it, for the question will ever be present to our minds, What would the
great Master, to whom we have to give account, wish us to do with it?
Those who have most wisely used their money are the men who have
realized most intensely the thought of their stewardship. In the "Life
of Mr. Moore," the successful merchant, by Smiles, this is most
admirably shown. He amassed, by industry and by enterprise, great
wealth; he lived a noble and benevolent life; he was honored by all men
for his character and his generosity. But at the root and foundation
of his life was the thought that all he had was a trust committed to
him by God.

2. _We should do good as we go_.--There are those who allow that they
should do good with their money, but they defer carrying out their
intention till they have accumulated something that they think
considerable. If they ever become rich, then they will do great
things. The folly of this is apparent, (_a_) They lose the happiness
which the humblest may daily reap from small deeds of kindness; and
(_b_) they lose the power which will enable them to do anything if the
great opportunity they desire comes. "Doing good," it has been well
said, "is a faculty, like any other, that becomes weak and atrophied,
palsied for lack of use. You might as well stop practising on the
piano, under the impression that in a year or two you will find time to
give a month to it. In the meantime, you will get out of practice and
lose the power. Keep your hand and your pocket open, or they will grow
together, so that nothing short of death's finger can unloose them."
[2] However little money we may have, we should use a portion of it in
doing good. The two mites of the widow were in the eye of Christ a
beautiful offering. Giving should always go with getting. Mere
getting injures us, but giving brings to us a blessing. "Gold," says
holy George Herbert, "thou mayest safely touch; but if it stick it
wounds thee to the quick." George Moore, to whom we have referred,
wrote yearly in